Ebay shares fall 13 pct after weak outlook, downgrades : US Business

NEW YORK (Reuters) - EBay Inc's shares fell more than 13 percent on Thursday after its cautious near-term outlook led to downgrades by several Wall Street analysts.

EBay's caution reflected concern about a weak U.S. economy and changes it has been making to its auction business.

But analysts, used to eBay raising its outlook each quarter, were disappointed when the company said revenue in the current quarter would be lower than expected even though it leaves its full-year projection relatively unchanged.

Analysts at Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs cut eBay to "Neutral" from "Buy," while Lehman and Jefferies both lowered their price target for the online auction house.

EBay's shares fell $3.90 to $24.25 at the opening of trading on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke, editing by Maureen Bavdek)

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